Ordinary World: American Landscape Photography and Modern Documentary Style

2013

During the 1960s and 1970s a new generation of American photographers started paying attention to their immediate surroundings: suburban domestic architecture, industrial structures, parking lots, and commercial buildings became the primary subjects of modern landscape photography, signaling a pronounced break from the picturesque American landscape style prevalent during the first half of the twentieth century. Ordinary World features photographs from the Museum's collection by artists working at the beginning of the movement, and demonstrates how their restrained approach continues to influence present-day landscape aesthetic. This installation complements the exhibition The Question of Truth: Robert Adams in Oregon, elucidating the landscape style that Adams helped establish and still endures in his contemporary works.

Curated by Julia Dolan